Have you been robbed of your LEGO collection?

[1963maniac]

Do you have your Lego collection insured??? I saw this on Youtube this morning and was wondering if anyone has had this kind of thing happen to them? The insurance company thinks Legos are just toys and not an investment or that Lego values cannot go up over time. Do we AFOLs need some special Lego insurance for our collections? Are there ways to protect our investments in Lego? What can we do?

Then, I found this: https://youtu.be/No9X4eQhWDI

[The Reader]

Have a look here: https://bricknerd.com/home/how-to-insure-your-lego-collection-11-23-23

[Lego Tom]

People are far more likely to lose their collection due to fire than theft. Most thieves have no idea of the value of LEGO sets or pieces and will go after more marketable items like electronic items. Regardless, if you are worried about some malady befalling your bricks, you should make sure you have insurance to cover any potential loss you can't afford.

[Black Falcon]

52 minutes ago, Lego Tom said:

People are far more likely to lose their collection due to fire than theft. Most thieves have no idea of the value of LEGO sets or pieces and will go after more marketable items like electronic items. Regardless, if you are worried about some malady befalling your bricks, you should make sure you have insurance to cover any potential loss you can't afford.

I think in the last years, as Lego became more and more popular especially among adults, the value of Lego and especially older products has become more and more known, not only among AFOLs. So while most thieves surely won´t know which set does have value and which doesn´t, I wouldn´t say they have no idea that it does have value at all, and so might still take it with them.

[JesseNight]

To an insurance, everything is based on its new value and a certain calculated decline of value over the years.
The thing with any collector's items is they have to be valued by a licensed appraiser that's accepted by the insurance company. It's a bit of an investment but if the fear of losing a rare or valuable item is real, then it might be worth considering. I don't know if appraisers are familiar with Lego value, some sets seem to raise in value unusually fast.

Best advice remains to not go public about owning valuable items. With some people posting everything including their location on social media, tracking people is sometimes really easy for criminals. And even among your real life circles, friends of friends could be criminals without us ever guessing.

I have no special insurance on my Lego, nor would I ever consider it. I can imagine someone having a whole room with rare MISB sets might wanna consider it.

[MAB]

 

 

7 hours ago, 1963maniac said:

Then, I found this: https://youtu.be/No9X4eQhWDI

There was a follow up ... 

 

[Autumn]

Yes, by some movers who transported stole our things when moving home when I was 15. Including loads of Lego from the 70s that had been handed down from my older brother up until the 00s. I was already growing out of Lego at that time but that destroyed any lingering appeal.

[Peppermint_M]

I was advised by a guy I know in insurance that a contents insurance should cover it to an extent. I make sure to record my sets on Brickset (just as I put my books on a database). It creates the record needed if the unthinkable were to happen. 

[MAB]

Having photos can help too. It is not hard to take and store photographic records these days.

[Paul B Technic]

I have a spreadsheet and lots of photos.

[JesseNight]

Do spreadsheets and photos really help without proof of purchase?
Anyone can make a spreadsheet including some sets they always wanted but never had... or make pictures of sets they don't own. I seriously doubt an insurance would pay out that easily, they always need hard evidence.

[MAB]

13 hours ago, JesseNight said:

Do spreadsheets and photos really help without proof of purchase?
Anyone can make a spreadsheet including some sets they always wanted but never had... or make pictures of sets they don't own. I seriously doubt an insurance would pay out that easily, they always need hard evidence.

Yes, photos of you with your sets (or anything that should be covered under your insurance that is not valuable enough to be listed as a separate item) can help prove you had them for an insurance claim, better than if you had no photos or other records. Keeping photos of the receipts is also pretty easy too these days. You can always ask the insurer what they suggest you keep.

[LegendaryArticuno]

Think this is also a lesson on using storage units as valuable storage, seen a lot of Youtubers store unopened sets worth thousands in them. These units aren't vaults, they're not that secure.

[JesseNight]

Not to mention I've seen Youtubers make mistakes revealing too much on videos making it easy to find out their locations (street names, noticeable buildings, things like that).
And even without that, a criminal from their own area might recognize a location very easily.

I think if you possess valuables and show it off to the world, you're at risk no matter what (unless it's all in a vault and well insured).

[eldiano]

Second hand LEGO retail stores have been targeted by robbers, especially in California where they just recovered close to $300,000 of stolen LEGO sets. LEGO value awareness has been steadily rising, which is now targeted for their resale prices. 

Insurance agencies will never pay fair market value, but storage spaces do offer insurance on their units, the one I used only covered up to to a $1,000, so it really depends the brand you choose.